What were you taught about heaven? Many of us were taught that heaven is an ethereal, intangible, & immaterial place that sits somewhere above us. When we die a very small group of people will go there to live in their mansion forever. Once there, we will wear white robes, sit on clouds, play harps, and sing Chris Tomlin songs forever and ever. But these images are the opposite of what the Biblical writers portray to us. For them, heaven is not somewhere else. Heaven is among us, within us, around us, and a present reality. 

Will there be a Judgement Day when we die? 

Will all the wrongs be made right? 

Will everything that was done in the darkness be brought into the light? 

There is a primal impulse within all of us for people to get what they deserve. 

But what about the litany of ways we have contributed to the heartbreak around us? 

Could the desire for judgement actually be a desire for justice?

Could our understanding of justice be limited to a punitive understanding?

To get at this we obviously need to talk about sheep and goats first.